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Product Description
CD Description
Secret, Profane and Sugarcane was produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded by Mike Piersante during a three-day session at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studio. Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin), Jeff Taylor (accordion) and Dennis Crouch (double bass), some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, bluegrass and beyond. Several of these songs, including "Down Among The Wines and Spirits", were given their first public performances during Costello’s acclaimed solo appearances as part of The Bob Dylan Show in late 2007. The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and "The Crooked Line" were co-written with T Bone Burnett, while "I Felt The Chill" marks Costello’s second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn. Costello revisits two songs from his catalogue in string band style, both songs originally written for Johnny Cash. "Hidden Shame" was indeed included on Cash’s album, Boom Chicka Boom.
Product Description
(2009 'Hear')(50:59/13) Produced by T Bone Burnett.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Elvis is one of our most cherished but sadly neglected national treasures. Indeed while his reputation as one of our generation's greatest songwriters seems to grow in the US back in "blighty" his albums are greeted with a mixture of polite respect or mystified indifference.
It is a huge shame as Costello makes stunning albums which draw upon a huge range of musical sources which he in turn always transforms from base metal into a precious substance. I suspect that his ability to jump from genre to genre is seen in some eyes as an irritation rather than strength and lacking in consistency. His fans however see it as his impatience to move on and never become pigeon holed.
He teams up again on this album with the uber hot producer T Bone Burnett fresh from his triumph with Plant and Krauss on "Raising Sand". Is this an attempt by Costello to follow suit; it would be an injustice even to think it. Costello and Burnett have worked together on and off since the mid 80s most notably on the neglected classic "king of America" which included great Elvis songs like "I'll wear it proudly" and "Little palaces". Thus the idea of an Elvis "cash in" on Burnett can be ruled out as can the idea that this is "Almost Blue" part2. It is far superior than the latter.
True it is familiar Burnett territory drawing upon a rich vein of country music, bluegrass and Americana but with the bulk of tracks penned by Elvis. As such I cant quite give it 5 stars and cant work out yet how to rate at four and a half! They both could do this in their sleep but this is tremendous plus and not a weakness particularly with the fantastic quality of the songs.
The highlights
* Costello does a new version of his own song written for Johnny Cash "Hidden Shame". Its pure Nashville and try to keep that foot still.
* The lovely waltz "Changing partners". Answers on a postcard please who first recorded this for I do not have a clue?
* "Down among the wines and spirit" could happily soundtrack the "Last Picture show" and spin forever in a bar in a dusty Texas town
* The outstanding highlight is the deeply moving country lament sung with the great Loretta Lynn "I Felt the Chill before the Winter Came" a sort of counterpart for "It's a good year for the Roses" 20 years later and a stone cold classic.
This album is still revealing its pleasures, but its one of Costello's best in many years. Not surprisingly it is brilliantly produced by Burnett and the band is so together they should be running the country (but with reasonable expenses and allowances). Take a punt buy Secret, Profane and Sugarcane and be very pleasantly surprised by an album that deserves Elvis to be crowned as one of our greatest songwriters and not just the "King of America".
It is a huge shame as Costello makes stunning albums which draw upon a huge range of musical sources which he in turn always transforms from base metal into a precious substance. I suspect that his ability to jump from genre to genre is seen in some eyes as an irritation rather than strength and lacking in consistency. His fans however see it as his impatience to move on and never become pigeon holed.
He teams up again on this album with the uber hot producer T Bone Burnett fresh from his triumph with Plant and Krauss on "Raising Sand". Is this an attempt by Costello to follow suit; it would be an injustice even to think it. Costello and Burnett have worked together on and off since the mid 80s most notably on the neglected classic "king of America" which included great Elvis songs like "I'll wear it proudly" and "Little palaces". Thus the idea of an Elvis "cash in" on Burnett can be ruled out as can the idea that this is "Almost Blue" part2. It is far superior than the latter.
True it is familiar Burnett territory drawing upon a rich vein of country music, bluegrass and Americana but with the bulk of tracks penned by Elvis. As such I cant quite give it 5 stars and cant work out yet how to rate at four and a half! They both could do this in their sleep but this is tremendous plus and not a weakness particularly with the fantastic quality of the songs.
The highlights
* Costello does a new version of his own song written for Johnny Cash "Hidden Shame". Its pure Nashville and try to keep that foot still.
* The lovely waltz "Changing partners". Answers on a postcard please who first recorded this for I do not have a clue?
* "Down among the wines and spirit" could happily soundtrack the "Last Picture show" and spin forever in a bar in a dusty Texas town
* The outstanding highlight is the deeply moving country lament sung with the great Loretta Lynn "I Felt the Chill before the Winter Came" a sort of counterpart for "It's a good year for the Roses" 20 years later and a stone cold classic.
This album is still revealing its pleasures, but its one of Costello's best in many years. Not surprisingly it is brilliantly produced by Burnett and the band is so together they should be running the country (but with reasonable expenses and allowances). Take a punt buy Secret, Profane and Sugarcane and be very pleasantly surprised by an album that deserves Elvis to be crowned as one of our greatest songwriters and not just the "King of America".
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Elvis Costello returns to Nashville (scene of 1981's "Almost Blue" recordings) and links up again with producer T. Bone Burnett (who produced Costello's classic "King of America" and 1989's "Spike" and co-wrote with Costello the Oscar-nominated "The Scarlet Tide," sung by Alison Krauss in the movie Cold Mountain.) It's thirty-two years since the blistering debut of "My Aim Is True" and the stellar sequence of Costello (and the Attractions) albums that followed. Depending on your perspective, it's somewhere between 10 and 20 years since the release of a Costello album qualified as a bona fide musical event. For all his brilliance, Costello is still criticized for his genre-hopping ways. But throughout his brilliant career, three things have been (pretty much) constant: 1) Costello's musical intelligence and inquisitiveness; 2) his choice of great collaborators; 3) his incredible voice. For fans old and new, "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" displays all three traits. It's an acoustic collection of rootsy, bluesy, "back-porch" Americana, with dobro, fiddle, mandolin and accordion supplied by some great backing musicians. "Complicated Shadows" (from 1996's "All This Useless Beauty") gets reworked here, along with "Hidden Shame" (a Costello song recorded by Johnny Cash, and previously available as a Costello demo from 1996). Among the ten previously unrecorded tracks are two bluegrassy numbers written with T.Bone Burnett -- "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and "The Crooked Line" -- plus Costello's second collaboration with Loretta Lynn, the classic-country-sounding "I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came." There are also four songs from Costello's unfinished Hans Christian Andersen opera. If you're not already a Costello fan, this is not the album to start with. But if you are (like me) always willing to follow Costello on every step of his musical journey, there's a swing-seat on the porch waiting for you. Enjoy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've been on a long and sometimes bumpy journey with Elvis Costello. I came in at This Years Model and have stuck with him ever since. Never being one to stand still and by proving himself to be a genre camelion Elvis' music has rarely been dull and most of his collabrations have been astounding and outstanding.
But by turning his back on the UK he's now largely forgotten back home and this latest offering is unlikely to bring new fans to the Macmanus clan. However if, like me, you found King of America to be one of his greatest moments then you need to own this album.
But by turning his back on the UK he's now largely forgotten back home and this latest offering is unlikely to bring new fans to the Macmanus clan. However if, like me, you found King of America to be one of his greatest moments then you need to own this album.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Crap bluegrass karaoke!!
At first glance the line up on this CD looks like a dream sheet. I've bought several Elvis Costello CD's dating back to the late '70's, and I thought Raising Sand was brilliant so... Read more
Published on 19 April 2010 by Mr. V. C. Potter
It's not very far from sulphur to sugarcane...
Firstly, I have to declare my love and admiration for Elvis Costello. I have pretty much everything he has ever released and have seen him numerous times in concert, so my... Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2009 by A. Sweeney
Almost Blue? - Almost as good?
I didn't know what to expect with this Album, I had not heard any tracks on it before purchase, I only bought it as I thought it might be "intresting" to hear how Costello had... Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by A. Mccoll
open-secret, profanities and sugar-beet
I am a massive EC fan - owning absolutely everything he has ever recorded. I admire the man hugely, however I find it impossible to concur with some of the gushing reviews I have... Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2009 by Drew W. Mclellan
Always good
I bought this for my husband who has always been a fan of Elivis Costello-he was not disappointed, he loves it!
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by J. fletcher
out of the spotlight but in form
Elvis seems largly ignored by the media just now - which seems to be doing him no end of good - just getting on with making music that he enjoys and so do we. Read more
Published on 10 July 2009 by Ian Teague
Another Gem
There is so much music produced in the Noughties which only dulls the mind.
Elvis has produced a series of exquitely crafted gems in this decade, mixing genres and... Read more
Elvis has produced a series of exquitely crafted gems in this decade, mixing genres and... Read more
Published on 5 July 2009 by Slim
seller said dispatch from UK but item arrived from Singapore
the seller stated that it would be delivered from uk and this is why i purchased it from them, however it took over two weeks to come and when it arrived it had come from... Read more
Published on 3 July 2009 by disappointed
Dissapointed
I bought this cd after reading a glowing review in the paper and because I have liked Elvis costello in the past. Read more
Published on 2 July 2009 by Kenneth F. Bland
Rootsy Americana
Elvis Costello is a man for all seasons, and the seasons come and go and he just keeps getting better. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2009 by prisrob
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